Jurassic World star Bryce Dallas Howard has revealed in a recent interview with the Metro that movie bosses wanted her to lose weight for her role in the franchise's third installment.
Howard, who portrays Dinosaur Protection Group leader Claire Dearing in the trilogy, claimed that it was director Colin Trevorrow who leaped to her defense and rejected these demands from unidentified film executives.
The 41-year-old beloved actor told Metro about Trevorrow's firm stance, recalling: "On the third movie, it was actually because there were so many women cast, it was something that Colin felt very strongly about in terms of protecting me…
"Because the conversation came up again, 'we need to ask Bryce to lose weight.'"
She added: "He was like, 'There are lots of different kinds of women on this planet and there are lots of different kinds of women in our film' and I got to do so many stunts that wouldn't have been possible if I had been dieting."
"So I'm really thrilled [at] all the action I got to do, and I got to do it with my body, she was at her maximum strength, and I hope it is just yet another indication of what's possible," Howard proudly stated.
The mom-of-two's interview comes after 2018 reports surfaced showing that she was paid $2 million less than her co-star, Chris Pratt, who received $10 million for his role in the 2018 Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom movie, Variety reported. However, Howard told Insider in August that she was paid "so much less" - stating that the gap was far larger than that.
"The reports were so interesting because I was paid so much less than the reports even said, so much less. When I started negotiating for Jurassic, it was 2014, and it was a different world, and I was at a great disadvantage. And, unfortunately, you have to sign up for three movies, and so your deals are set," she said.
Fortunately, Howard revealed that her co-star, Pratt, was set on helping her, as she said: "What I will say is that Chris and I have discussed it, and whenever there was an opportunity to move the needle on stuff that hadn't been already negotiated."
"Like a game or a ride, he literally told me, 'You guys don't even have to do anything. I’m gonna do all the negotiating. We're gonna be paid the same and you don't have to think about this, Bryce,'" she added.
Clearly, Hollywood still has a long way to go in terms of how women are portrayed and perceived - we are certainly more than our bodies. By now, this should be plainly obvious.